Spain’s deputy Prime Minister’s bodyguards were attacked by a man carrying two large knives.
Yolanda Diaz, second deputy prime minister in Pedro Sanchez’s government, was unharmed in the attack on Thursday, with reports suggesting she was not in the area at the time.
An attacker, believed to be a 44-year-old Spanish man, approached the two police guards near the Ateneo Theatre in Madrid at around 12pm, coming up silently before springing an attack on them when they identified themselves as officers.
After headbutting one of the guards in the face, he then pulled two large knives from his backpack which were used to threaten them, according to La Razon.
In video footage from the scene, the man can be seen pointing his weapon at the police and at himself, threatening to inflict harm on his own person.
Once police reinforcements arrived, the attacker was forced to run away and travelled to another street with a knife in his hand.
Officers can be seen pointing firearms at the man in the clip, eventually using a Taser gun to bring him down.
He was arrested by police after an officer hit his arm and made him drop the knives in his possession, before being taken to the National Police Station in Centro.
As the events unfolded, the scene was closed to pedestrians and Prado Street was inaccessible to those on foot.
According to Spanish media, authorities have ruled out political or ideological motives for the attack.
Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz arrived at the scene following the containment of the incident, by which time the area had been secured.
Diaz has served in her position since 2021 and has also been minister of labour and social economy since 2020. She is a member of the Communist Party of Spain and is qualified as a labour lawyer.
It was confirmed that Diaz was not with her bodyguards at the time of the attack and only learned of the incident afterwards.
One police source said: “The man concerned reacted violently when asked to identify himself as he approached the car of a bodyguard of Yolanda Díaz happened to be in.
“It was a random thing and no deliberately-intentioned attack on the vice president or her security. She was inside the cultural centre the incident happened outside [of] at the time and wasn’t involved.”
Diaz was once tipped as a future Prime Minister by Politico and at one point boasted the highest approval ratings of any politician in Spain.